The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus exploiting electrophotography, such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, or a multifunction peripheral thereof. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus incorporating a cooler that cools a photosensitive member, a developing device, and the like arranged near a fixing part.
In conventional image forming apparatuses exploiting electrophotography, such as printers, copiers, and facsimile machines, a thermal fixing method is widely used whereby a sheet that carries an unfixed toner image thereon is inserted through a nip between a heating member such as a heating roller or a heating belt and a pressing member which presses against the heating member with a predetermined pressure, and thereby the toner image is fixed to the sheet.
In such image forming apparatuses, a developing device and the like arranged around a fixing part may be adversely affected by heat released from the fixing part. To cope with that, a cooling mechanism is needed in the image forming apparatuses. Commonly, in cooling mechanisms, cooling air is blown by use of a cooling fan, and the challenge is how to achieve efficient blowing of cooling air.
For example, by use of an electric motor such as a motor or a solenoid, the path of cooling air is switched between during printing and during its preparation. For another example, a cooler is provided for preventing image forming units such as a photosensitive drum and a developing device from being exposed to high heat from a fixing device. When a drum cover which protects the surface of the photosensitive drum is retracted, the drum cover is located in the flow of cooling air produced by the cooler.